TOWN NEWS BRIEFING

THE HARTFORD COURANT

AREAWIDE

Library Discussion Set

On 'Grapes Of Wrath'

COLCHESTER -- The Cragin Memorial Library will present a free discussion of "The Grapes of Wrath," by John Steinbeck, on Thursday.

Jordan Pecile, a former English department chairman at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, will lead the discussion. The focus will be the struggle, by the family that is central to the novel, to endure and prevail in Depression-era America.

The public is invited to the program, which is funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in celebration of the Steinbeck Centennial, the 100th anniversary of his birth. Multiple copies of the book are available at the library, but it is not necessary to read it to participate in the discussion. The program will begin at 7 p.m. at the library's temporary location, 44 Main St.

Participants will enter a beginner level yoga class with meditation and guided relaxation. Lesinski will also demonstrate advanced yoga postures and discuss the benefits of ongoing yoga practice.

Participants should wear comfortable clothing and bring a small blanket or towel. No experience or fitness level is required.

WINDSOR LOCKS

Journey For Sight

Sets Off Saturday

WINDSOR LOCKS -- The annual Journey for Sight fund-raiser, sponsored by the Windsor Locks Lions Club, will take place Saturday morning along the bank of the Windsor Locks Canal.

Walkers will leave the starting line between 7 and 11:30 a.m.

Money raised by participants will benefit the Lions' activities to promote healthy eyesight and fight age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma as well as diabetic retinopathy and vision loss due to stroke or trauma.

Walkers from throughout Hartford and Litchfield counties are expected to take part. Designated walkers are available for those who are physically unable to participate.

Lions Clubs support the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, CRIS Radio on-air readings of news publications, the Lions Low Vision Centers and the Connecticut Lions Eye Research Foundation and Lions Clubs International Foundation.

Participants are encouraged to bring their families, and to seek matching funds for pledges from their employers if available.

For further information or pledge sheets, call Jim Wrinn at 860-623-1510 or Hallie Wong at 860-623-5001.

VERNON

Hearing Site Changed

On Rezoning Proposal

VERNON -- The location has been changed for a public hearing on a proposal to rezone more than 40 acres near I-84's Exit 67 to allow commercial development.

The May 2 hearing will be held in the Rockville High School auditorium at 7:30 p.m., instead of Vernon Center Middle School. Planned repairs to the middle school auditorium have forced the relocation, Town Planner Thomas Joyce said this week.

The proposal from MAP Investment Trust of Middletown is to rezone the Bray property south of Reservoir Road and west of Mile Hill Road from residential to mixed-use development.

AREAWIDE

Soprano Will Perform

To Benefit Church

The Polish Cultural Club of Greater Hartford will hold a concert May 4 featuring internationally recognized lyric soprano Laura Grazyna Kafka to benefit the 100th anniversary of Hartford parish Sts. Cyril and Methodius.

Kafka, a professor of music at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, is a specialist in the music of composer Karol Szymanowski. She has appeared in theater productions, operas and solo recitals in the United States and Europe.

Among Kafka's musical works to be sung in English and Polish are compositions by Chopin, Mozart, Schubert, Ignace J. Paderewski, Stanislaw Moniuszko and Jozef Korzeniowski.

The concert is scheduled for 7 p.m., with a reception to follow at 8:45, at the Education and Resource Center, Heublein Hall, Hartford Hospital, 560 Hudson St.

Tickets for the concert and reception are $25. No tickets will be sold at the door.

For tickets or information on the concert, call Ann Oleasz at 563-9117 or Nancy Yiznitsky at 568-2044.

AREAWIDE

Bushnell Carousel

To Open For Season

The 2002 season of the Bushnell Park Carousel kicks off May 4 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a day of rides and fun.

The regular schedule for the carousel will be Tuesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be closed Mondays and on days that it rains. Each ride is 50 cents.

The carousel also is open during special events in Bushnell Park through October.

The carousel is available for birthday parties, receptions, photo opportunities and tour or craft parties.

The 88-year-old carousel is managed for the city of Hartford by the New England Carousel Museum of Bristol.